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Upgrade your work productivity with a new office coffee setup.

We’ve all been there, it’s the early afternoon and you’re slumped over your desk trying to stay focused on the report due by the end of the day. Yet it feels impossible to keep your eyes open, so instead you walk to the nearest pot of coffee only to be disappointed by the selection. The lack of real creamer, coffee options and the two packets of sugar left won’t be enough to turn this nonproductive afternoon around.

Office coffee systems (OCS) have been a key dynamic in the work force but now most employers can’t get by with just a single pot of dark roast for the office. With more people finding an appreciation for specialty blend coffees or espresso drinks throughout the day, it makes sense why coffee systems are getting a reboot in the office. The introduction of the Keurig and single pot brewers has helped diversify coffee selections, especially when it comes to switching up the office coffee.

On average, 22 percent of employees will leave the office for coffee and tea for an average of 14-20 minutes a day. This can lead to a potential loss of productivity of more than $15,000 a year for an office of 50 people. Why not consider keeping your employees in house by upgrading your office coffee system?

How does coffee play into the productivity of your employees?

Coffee is a great way to jumpstart your mornings and help with those afternoon slumps. While caffeine in coffee doesn’t wake you up, it can block the main compound in your brain that makes you sleepy. Roughly 43 percent of workers experienced a positive effect on work productivity when drinking coffee, while 85 percent of employees believe quality coffee and tea can contribute to increased productivity and morale in the office.

When employers take the time to provide quality coffee options in the office, it helps save employees time, money and makes them feel appreciated. There is even a “perfect” time for a coffee break, which is around 2:15 in the afternoon.

Want to upgrade your system?

Looking to add an office coffee system or upgrade your current set up? Great! We at National Vending are able to provide the perfect blend of popular coffee brands, flavored coffees, teas, and condiments through office coffee makers or hot beverage vending machines to keep your office running without the hassle.

A new generation of coffee drinkers are shaping the coffee industry! According to market research firm, Packaged Facts, coffee sales are going strong. The research firm stated that in 2015, the U.S. market for packaged and ready-to-drink coffee sold at retail was estimated at $13.5 billion. By 2020, sales are predicted to be close to $18 billion in the U.S. Traditional coffee products such as ground coffee and instant coffee has been in the decline. Ground coffee is still the largest segment, but single-cup coffee is catching up quickly!

There are three segments that have lead to growth in the coffee industry:

Single cup coffee

Cappuccino/iced coffee

Ready-to-drink coffee

Many older and traditional consumers are still purchasing ground coffee in cans and some have moved toward specialty coffee. Millennials are drinking more specialty coffee than any other generation. In fact, this generation is drinking more coffee than other generations. Millennials are much less likely to drink coffee at breakfast, but they will drink it at lunch or dinner or in the afternoon or evening. According to the Specialty Coffee Chronicle, almost half of the population under 40 is more likely to consume coffee outside of the home. Coffee Talk stated that approximately 30% of coffee consumption for young coffee drinkers is away from home.

Younger coffee drinkers are more concerned with the entire coffee supply chain especially sustainability. The market share of gourmet coffee beverages (gourmet traditional coffee, espressos, iced or frozen drinks, etc.) have continued to increase especially among younger audiences. Older Millennials are the most likely age group to drink cappuccinos, mochas, espressos, gourmet coffee, caffè Americano, flat white, cold brew, and nitrogen infused coffee. The number of cups of coffee consumed in the U.S. decreased over the past year, but retail earnings have still increased as consumers spend more money on premium coffee products. Over the years consumers have shown that they are willing to pay more for a higher quality premium cup of coffee!

After water, coffee is the most consumed drink in the world and workplaces are continuing to realize the importance of this drink. Many workplaces around the nation are spending more money to provide better, great tasting coffee for their employees as the workplace view of coffee continues to evolve! Coffee has become a crucial part of the workplace culture and has been proven to increase creativity and productivity in the workplace!

Surveys have revealed that small perks such as good, free coffee can greatly increase employee morale. Gourmet coffee has a high perceived value to employees. According to a Keurig national survey, 37% of employees would prefer free, gourmet coffee over a holiday party. This displays the important role that coffee plays within companies. Many companies have Keurig machines to offer a wide variety of gourmet beverages to their employees.

According to The Wall Street Journal, coffee consumption in the U.S. is poised to grow at 2% until 2020. The U.S.accounted for 16% of coffee consumption in the past year. Many workplaces will keep up with this increased coffee consumption in order to increase employee satisfaction. Coffee breaks offer a moment of downtime to bring colleagues together and increases creativity. Coffee breaks create a positive social group climate in the workplace which improves company productivity in numerous ways!

Let us know what type of coffee you like to drink at work and how many cups of coffee you drink each day!

Imagine having a hot cup of coffee delivered straight to your work or home. This is soon to become a reality as coffee shops experiment with coffee deliveries. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are experimenting with on-demand ordering to deliver hot drinks directly to consumers at work or to their front door.

Starbucks is currently testing two delivery options:

Starbucks Green Apron Delivery – Empire State Building tenants and registered guests can order Starbucks coffee online and have it delivered directly to their office. This is a pilot project in the dense urban environment to serve the building’s 12,000 employees. Starbucks prioritizes and delivers the order with 30 minutes. A Starbucks employee will bring the order to the company front desk or reception area to meet the customer.

Starbucks Delivery in Seattle – Seattle residents can use the Starbucks iPhone app to get Starbucks delivered by Postmates to any location in town. Delivery is only available in select areas in Seattle, but more cities and platforms are soon to come.

Dunkin’ Donuts has a few opportunities as well:

On-the-Go Ordering App – Dunkin’ Donuts Perks customers in Portland, Maine can use this app to sync to their Perks account to skip the line and pick up their orders at the counter or drive-thru. This is not a delivery option, but there is opportunity to use the mobile app for deliveries in the future.

DoorDash – Customers living in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C. can have their coffee and food delivered to their doors within 45 minutes from 7am-10pm. The company is considering a national rollout for this in the future!

In addition to these large coffee chains, there are many smaller coffee shops that have already started delivering coffee to customers. Coffee delivery will continue to be more popular and available in the future. Coffee shops are still working on developing the perfect way to deliver coffee at the right temperature and time. These companies want to ensure that they maintain their high reputation for great coffee, so if they can master these two obstacles, the future of on-demand coffee delivery is looking bright.

Let us know what you think about coffee delivery options. Which drink will you order for delivery?

Picture yourself holding a warm cup of coffee on a cold winter day. The warmth and caffeine are helping you get a jump start on your day. Are you holding a warm drink from your Keurig? If so, you are starting your morning off like many Americans. According to Statista, Keurig Green Mountains was the leading single-sup coffee vendor in the U.S. in 2015 at $1.4 billion dollars. K-Cups allow consumers to make a single serving drink without having to make a whole pot. It’s the perfect solution for coffee drinkers who are on-the-go and looking for a convenient way to get some caffeine to start the day.

The name Keurig actually comes from the Dutch term for excellence. Keurig was founded by coffee lovers so they could make coffee in single servings instead of an entire pot. The K-Pod was introduced in 1998 to brew a perfect cup of coffee in less than a minute. An advantage to the Keurig was that if it was connected to a water line, you didn’t even need to refill it with water. The water temperature is 200 to allow the coffee to release the best flavor. These advantages make it the perfect machine for anyone who wants an individual beverage. With coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot cider, and specialty beverages, K-cups are great for any occasion.

Some of the most popular K-Cup flavors as rated by faveable are listed below. Which ones are your favorites?

Green Mountain Kenyan AA K-Cups

Barista Prima Coffeehouse House Blend K-Cup

Eight O’Clock Coffee Colombian Peaks K-Cup

The Original Donut Shop (Regular) Medium Extra Bold K-Cups

Grove Square French Vanilla Cappuccino

Diedrich Coffee Dark French Roast K-Cups

Keurig recently had some exciting news! They announced that recyclable pods are now available for your Keurig 2.0 brewer in over 50 beverages in three different pod sizes. By 2020, Keurig claims that 100% of K-Cup pods will be recyclable. Keurig dedicates itself to innovation in all that they do. In order to improve sustainability, the company will design a K-Cup pack with materials that can easily be separated and readily recycled. Keurig is working to ensure that the plastic will consistently make it through the recycling stream. This plastic will help to make the K-Cups fully recyclable! K-Cups have been very successful due to their convenience. In under a minute, you can be out the door, ready to make today great!

Food trucks are definitely one of those little things in life that anyone would look forward to. They’re great because they’re fun, affordable, local (usually) and, they’re delicious (most of the time). Believe it or not, recently, one of the largest brands in the world kick started their venture into the food truck arena.

This August, Starbucks announced its plans for their mobile Starbucks stores to hit 3 colleges in the US. These lucky 3 campuses are Arizona State University, James Madison University and Coastal Carolina University. Starbucks and their longtime partner – Aramark, are running the Food Truck project together. Cathy Schlosberg, Vice President of Marketing for Aramark Education said “We believe the Starbucks mobile truck is a perfect opportunity to increase the convenience of our offerings and help meet our student body wherever they are in their busy days.“

We think this is a great opportunity for Starbucks to be exploring as they continue to grow in the ever-so competitive food and beverage markets now. Rumor has it that these are only pilots, and if the project is a success, we’ll soon be seeing more of these Starbucks Food Trucks around more campuses.

Single-serve coffee has become a thing of today. While the markets for freshly brewed coffee are still hot, the single-serve market is definitely heating up. According to MarketWatch; which is published by Dow Jones & Co., single-serve coffee still accounted for less than half the volume of regular coffee sales, but they were forecast to rise by 213% to an estimated $3.1 billion in 2012 from 2011. With the quick adoption of single-serve coffee by consumers, many large brands, and even new brands are joining this coffee trend.

Here’s an interesting thought though, with the rising concern for environmental sustainability, how in line is the concept of single-serve coffee with these concerns? Many of the disposable capsules or pods are usually made of plastic or another chemically engineered material that isn’t biodegradable. With people drinking so much coffee every day, week or month, this indefinitely accumulates a ton of waste, and not to mention, requires a large amount of resources to keep producing. Beanarella, a Swiss Coffee Company which was founded in 2011 is one of the players in the single-serve coffee market. Beanarella was granted the “Golden Idea Award 2013” for being the first company to create a compostable coffee capsule worldwide. We think this is a huge step in the right direction and hope to see other brands following in their footsteps in the near future.

How about you? Are you a fan of the Keurig Coffee Brewers or any other single-serve coffee products? The coffee industry is now addressing sustainability concerns, but how willing would you be to pay more to use the more sustainable products?